New furnace feed system for Tubatse Ferrochrome
Bateman Engineering has upgraded the furnace feed system at Billiton's
Tubatse Ferrochrome plant in Steelpoort, Mpumalanga, RSA. The previous
feed system comprised a number of conveyors feeding through the furnace
roof directly into the furnace, while the new feed system consists
of a conveyor feeding raw material to a new storage bin at a rate
of 150 t/h.
The stored material is drawn from the bin by five vibrating feeders
and fed into the furnace through seven feed chutes with water-cooled
tips. The entire chute system is air cooled.
The challenge was to install the new system into the very limited
space available in the existing building and position the new bin
above an existing opening in the concrete floor. The structure of
the building also had to be substantially strengthened to accommodate
the additional load of the 120 t capacity storage bin.
This caused a height constraint and this, together with the position
of the transferring conveyor, resulted in the need for an unusually-steep
troughed conveyor, angled at 26°. The position of the feed chutes
required a number of extremely long vibrating feeders up to 8 m in
length.
This lump-sum turnkey project valued at R8.5 million arose out of
a successful engineering study, conducted by Bateman Engineering,
to investigate the possibility of replacing the furnace feed system
at the plant.
A good relationship existed throughout the project between Bateman
Engineering's project personnel and the client, ensuring that progress
proceeded according to schedule.
For more information contact Dirk Schenk, General Manager Special
Projects, on +27-11-899-2735 or email dirk.schenk@BatemanEngineering.com.
